How much more welfare and entitlements can the United States endure before it bankrupts the Nation ?

Some states have entitlements of more than 57% of the population. How can 2 or 3 people be on welfare while one person is working to support these? Is it ok for the welfare, relating to those who do not work, have more than those who work? Is it right for those on welfare to be better off and richer than those supporting the system? Is it right for those on welfare to have their heat and electricity paid for by tax-payers to sit in 80-90 degree apartments while those who are working to survive, to sit home, with their thermostats set below 60 because they can not afford the heating bill?

Why is it when you say Welfare, everyone quickly things of the blue collar worker or the poor? Corporate Welfare is one of our countries biggest expenses, tax free business--abatement's to take their business to designated places, laws that allow them to hide their money in other countries so they don't have to pay taxes on it. 2nd are those politicians that continue to get medical and monetary welfare even after they have left office. I once gave $20 dollars to a street person because he was honest enough to say what he was going to do with the money. At church, they preach that when you see someone begging on the street, it is not our place to judge or to look down on those less fortunate, what is $1 going to put us out of, if it helps make a difference in someone else s less fortunate life.

Your problem is you are wanting to hurt everyone in need because of the misdeeds of a few.

So, Laurens Wright, you will never get the answer you want, you will just typically incite anger in others because of the narrow mindedness of the topic.

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It is because I have put over 2000 hours researching welfare fraud and dishonesty. I comment on this because of this so called distribute the wealth. While I am the working poor, I see people on welfare, sucking the wealth out of those who work

obviously you believe the gov does a great job taking care of the distressed. however, you are very wrong in your thinking. the gov does not generate advancement for the distressed, just more distress. this way the gov worker keeps his unhelpful job

There is nothing more damaging to the value of work than to employ the force of government to take that which one man has earned and award it to one who has done nothing to earn it but claim a need and own a vote.

Thank you, Abecedarian, for your comment. Since your comment, I did some research and you are correct. Big business and politicians are raping this country of billions of dollars, including 26 billion (?) dollars a month into the stock market.

We are already bankrupt. The National Debt already exceeds GDP.The annual deficit merely adds to that debt. We have borrowed $Trillions from taxpayers and foreign governments. We are inflating our currency to the tune of a $Trillion this year alone. We have around $100Trillion in entitlement commitments. Social Security paid out more than it took in this year and there are still twelve years of Baby Boomers to retire. There are 48 million Americans on food stamps and 91 million Americans of working age unemployed.

It is a sorry state of affairs we have allowed the government to get us in and there is more to come as Obamacare adds more to the debt and subtracts more jobs from the economy. There is a student loan bubble that will burst. There is a second housing bubble being created right now from the unreformed FannyMae/FreddieMac. The Fed is inflating the value of NYSE and the currency, creating an even deadlier bubble.

We have signed the future of the Middle East over to the Iranian mad men, their Nuclear Ambitions and their 12th Imam Cultism. When Saudi Arabia and Israel decide they have had enough of Obama's dangerous foreign policies and bombs Iranian weapons production facilities Obama will create "Obamagas," to make sure the "poor" can still drive the cars that taxpayers(the makers) will be forced to provide to the takers.

In a rhyme "Dude, we're screwed."

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Technically the US is already bankrupt, but the Fed has an answer called Quantitative Easing )QE) with which the government responds with raising the debt ceiling. Now the debt is so high that it is impossible for the taxpayer ti pay off. Yes the big banks get 0% loans, but not anyone below that. Interest rates vary from 1% all the way to 5,700%. depending on where you are in the loan hierarchy. Now some who work and some in the military also collect welfare, like food stamps (which are being phased out) while working because their wages are so low. Even though some commit fraud as suggested in the multiple questions above, what about corporate welfare that get bailouts because they are too big to fail? What about the sub-prime mortgage fraud that collapsed the economies of some entire countries that had to get massive IMF bailouts on conditions of extreme austerity? Are we suggesting that if work is sent off-shore to cheaper labour markets that causes unemployment at home, that we should just let the home work team starve and freeze in the dark?

No, we are in a dire need to change the entire structure of society. A few get obscene amounts of wealth while the rest are gouged with austerity, working or not. Welfare it turns out, is a bid to prevent civil unrest and has so far worked. Workers who pay taxes are too busy working to join civil unrest, so they are ignored, hence the difference between welfare layabouts getting more than those who work from the tax based dole.

Meanwhile, one of the biggest feeders at the trough is the Industrial Military Complex whose sole function in life is to do the business of war. Nearly a trillion dollars is wasted on this one dole alone. Welfare to the unemployed and working poor is a pittance compared to this.

This may not have answered your questions directly, but lets see things in perspective.

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you are both statistically and morally correct in your assessment. the change needed is to tax everyone at the rate of 1% per consumption dollar. no deductions - no special adjustments. and provide a job to every welfare recipient - no exceptions